I'm getting weaker at resisting getting more than network channels, having seen Animal Planet and a couple other shows while at the gym. I have a prejudice against Comcast, but can't give you specific reasons.

I currently have Verizon phone and DSL internet service. I don't know anything about Dish or Direct TV service, installation, features, costs, reliability, etc. I'd like to get the least expensive service provided I get Animal Planet and a few other channels (maybe it's not a few, but I don't need 150, or on demand, etc).

I have two old TVs, in working order, but neither digital or HDef. Does that make a difference to the installation? I don't even know if they are so old that a new service can be connected to them. I'm toying with the idea of replacing one with a small flat screen, and it would of course be digital (I've got one converter box, but so far have found it's more trouble than it's worth.. at least I can't make it work consistently). Since the TVs are still working fine and all I want are the extra channels, can I delay the purchase until necessary and just get the new service or will their age complicate the installation?

Any advice one way or the other about the services, installations, TVS (recommendations for small flat screen would be helpful too. If I'm satisfied watching a 19" tv across the room from my bed, I really don't need a 50" screen) would be very much appreciated. Personal experiences especially helpful. Start from the beginning. I've become technologically obsolete :{

jo

As far as I know, Dish network is usually a little bit cheaper. DirectTV has the football package (doesn't sound like your interested though). If I were you I'd find out if either one requires a deposit, and if so, which is the least and shortest amount of time (1 year versus 2). Otherwise, I think they're pretty similar.


Your TV should be ok, as long as it's cable ready (from about the mid-80's). If you have satellite or cable, you won't need to worry about the Digital-TV transition in February 2009. You're dish box will act as the converter. If you want to get a small flat screen tv though, it wouldn't hurt. The view is crystal clear on those things.

DirectTV offers a bundle package discount if you have a Verizon home phone and DSL - you can save like 5-10 dollars per month - not sure. Also, if you are a new subscriber to DirectTV you can usually get some pretty good discounts - like 10 dollars off per month and a free DVR receiver. I have DirectTV and love it - it usually keeps pretty good reception except through some thunderstorms...Good luck

I just switched from Dish Network to Direct TV because the latter is way less expensive. Prior, I was paying $72.00 a month for 1 TV (200 channels plus HBO). I am getting the same deal with Direct TV for $51.00 a month.

Plus, I got the first month free (they also charge you $29.00 for the installation packet, but you get a rebate the second month so you don't have to pay anything).

There are things I like & dislike about both services (channel grids, remotes, etc..), but Direct TV is much less expensive.

I have had Direct TV Since the Prime Star days. I have never had a problem and they have always been prompt with service and keeping me happy as a customer. ( including giving me upgrade deals offered only to new customers )
The recievers will work fine with your old tvs. They have analog connections.
With the deals they have now, you could get your dish , recievers etc delivered and installed for free. And a basic package giving you animal planet for around 40 bucks a month .If they align your dish correctly, you wont have a problem with weather unless its a major thunder storm, and even then, only my HiDef chanels go out, i can usually still get everything else.

Also, if you are going to get a flat screen, you might as well pony up and spend the xtra 5 bucks a month for the Hi Def service. If you like animal planet, you will be happy you did.

I don't know much about Dish Network, but for the services I have with DTV, I would be paying more double with comast.

I've had DirecTV for eight years or more, through two moves, and I have been entirely happy with it. The service is flexible, the equipment is rugged, and when you move they give you a new dish installed on the new house (a clever way to get you to leave the old one for the next owner). The few times I have had to deal with customer service, they have been polite, efficient, and prompt. The reception is good and the channel lineup is unbeatable. I am more than satisfied with their service. I can't say that about most utilities I pay for and I have never said that about any cable service I have used.

1) Is there a difference between buying DirecttV thru Verizon or independently?

2) How do I know, and it is important, to know if my old TVs are cable ready. When I say old, I mean OLD, like 10-15 years. Is there some connection on the back I can check? I'm about 99% sure there is no connection explicitly marked as a cable connector, but maybe there never is.

There is an old thread on DirectTV/Verizon here from a few years ago that I stumbled on somehow (sorry, don't know how to point to it). It was very negative, implying deceptive and/or unclear rebate and billing practices. Is there anything in fine print that I should be on the lookout for?

It also looks like I can't get Animal Planet on the cheapest package. Can anyone verify that? I do wish these providers would provide an a la carte package for these services. I'm on disability and paying an extra $40+ a month is not a deal breaker, but definitely makes me look at what else I can cut out of my budget for this. Guess the cats will have to start eating cheaper food.

I can't speak to the relative price difference between buying through Verizon and buying direct, but I can say your 10 or 15 year old TV should pose no technical challenges at all. If there is a coaxial cable plug (where you screw in the cable box or a VCR - it's round and threaded, has a hole through the middle), the DirecTV converter box will simply screw in with no problem. In the unlikely event it doesn't have such a plug, you can easily buy a little device at RadioShack that will screw into the two screws that hook up to the old fashioned rabbit ear antennas. It only costs a couple of bucks.

You may very well also have what are called RCA jacks - the old red/white stereo plugs. If you have plugs like that, you will likely have a third color - a yellow one. That is a video plug. The converter box should come with a three-plug cable, with a red, yellow, and white plug. That will connect the converter box to the TV if there is no cable plug. If it doesn't come with such a cable, Radio Shack will have one for just a few dollars.

But if your TV is less than 20 or 25 years old, it really should have that coaxial cable plug on the back. And don't let anyone tell you that the TV is too old - anyone who does either doesn't understand the technology or is trying to trick you into some expensive new TV or converted device. People have tried to pull that on my mother for years and I have a devil of a time convincing her that her old TV is just fine and she doesn't have to drop hundreds of dollars on a new one unless she wants to (which she doesn't).


And I can't speak for everyone, but I certainly have never had the slightest bad experience with DirecTV's billing or contract.

I kinda thought coax was the key. Yes, I do have those connectors. I'll have to talk to Verizon and Direct TV independently to see if there is a difference in cost or plans.

It's close to impossible to talk me into something unnecessary. I pick up glib-speak very quickly and don't make purchases impulsively anyway. All I have to hear is something like "you can't do x and must spend money on y" and I immediately assume I'm either talking to an idiot who doesn't know (I've heard how they advise people about computers at some of the stores. Ugh), or are trying to talk me into a sale.

I think I actually want a relatively small flat screen TV for the bedroom, but have to see just how small and inexpensive I can get away with and still benefit. It will have to be hung from a ceiling mount since I lie in bed a lot and have to look directly forward and up, not bend my head at all. The current dinosaur is wedged into the top section of a two part closet that the previous owner (prior to 1979) had built out of one wall. The bottom section is a normal clothes closet; the top is for infrequently used items. It's only about 20-25" high and used to have ugly sliding panels to close it, but I hated them, ripped them out, and wedged my TV into this area on a little slanted mount that a contractor built for me. I'd like to get the TV out of there, so I can restore the area to something useful and non-ugly, whatever that means, with doors or a short curtain. Today's TVs would never fit in the upper space anyway, so it gives me a good excuse to consider getting a more modern, larger screen TV, with better resolution and less bulk. It sounds like I don't have to make that choice first, but rather could have Direct TV installed to the older set and than just move the coax cable from one TV to the new one if and when I actually buy one.

jo

Right - the coax cable will work for any TV made in the last 25 years or so, from an old clunker to the sleek plasma bigboys in Best Buy today, no need to worry about the changing technology. With DirecTV you will have to decide how many tvs you eventually want to use on the system, though. The basic dish will only give you one TV. You have to buy different dishes for multiple TVs. That's the one downside to DirecTV - it works well with one or two TVs in the house (I have one), but if you have a zillion units, it gets messy.